Quality

There has been a general trend shifting certain responsibilities for
quality assurance from the Inspection Company working for the Owner to the
Contractor performing the work. Often our members retain a Quality
Verification Engineer (QVE) mostly to provide third-party verification of
the quality of work. An example is the precision monitoring of
deflection of earth retention systems. This has led to a more professional
approach to contruction techniques by the Contractor.

Value Engineering

Frequently, contractors have been able to provide more economical
solutions to specified construction and can save the Owner money by offering
a different technique that provides the required end result. Some Owners
have formal programs which allow this possibility with a program of
sharing the savings, dubbed “Value Engineering”.

Design-Build

It is common practice in some types of work, particularly in earth
retention work, to have the Contractor supply the design in a Design/Build
form of contract. Experience with alternative designs and value engineering
have resulted in Contractors developing these Design/Build capabilities. For
complex work, outside consultants are frequently utilized by the Contractor
to assist with the design of the proposed work.